Biotextiles as medical implants: 20. Anterior cruciate ligament prostheses using biotextiles (Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles)

Trends in ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) management have included primary repair, allograft, augmentation and prosthetic devices, autograft and, recently, tissue engineering and xenograft, but the primary goals remain restoring knee function, stability and normal kinematics to allow patients to return to a preinjury level of activity as early as possible. Autografts, either with hamstring or bone–patellar tendon–bone, remain the treatment of choice in ACL reconstructive surgery, with allograft attracting renewed interest in recent years. The chapter discusses the low popularity of ACL prosthesis and considers alternative solutions from the emerging field of tissue engineering.